One of China’s neighbors says it’s pulled a key patrol vessel out of the South China Sea after a 5-month standoff

The BRP Teresa Magbanua vessel in a picture shared by Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela on September 15, 2024.

The Philippines has withdrawn one of its key patrol vessels from the South China Sea, where tensions with China have been growing in recent months.

In an X post on Sunday, Jay Tarriela, a spokesperson for the Philippines’ Coast Guard, said the BRP Teresa Magbanua, one of the newest and largest patrol vessels deployed by the Philippine Coast Guard, had been forced to return home.

He cited adverse weather conditions, depleted supplies of daily necessities, and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care.

But, he added, its presence in the waters had been “further complicated by the structural damage to the vessel resulting from the deliberate ramming by the China Coast Guard on August 31, 2024.”

The Teresa Magbanua has operated since April around Sabina Shoal — a disputed island in the South China Sea that has become a key flash point between the Philippines and China.

In June, Chinese coast guards armed with swords and knives attacked Philippine vessels in the contested waters, resulting in injuries and one soldier losing a thumb.

A month later, China’s largest coastguard vessel dropped anchor in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, and in August, Tarriela said China had deployed 40 vessels to block the delivery of supplies to soldiers stationed in Sabina Shoal.

Earlier this month, the Philippines’ Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad told the Daily Tribune that the Teresa Magbanua had been outnumbered by more than 50 Chinese ships.

The chair of the Philippines’ National Maritime Council, Lucas Bersamin, said in a statement on Sunday that the vessel carried out its “sentinel” duties against “overwhelming odds” and was sailing back to its homeport with its mission “accomplished.”

He added that once the vessel was resupplied and repaired, and its crew recharged, the Teresa Magbanua would be ready to resume its mission alongside other assets from the Philippines’ Coast Guard and Armed Forces as “defenders of our sovereignty.”

China’s Coast Guard, meanwhile, said the vessel left the island on Saturday afternoon after five months of “unlawful stay” and that China would continue to uphold its sovereignty in the area.

China “has indisputable sovereignty over Xianbin Jiao and its adjacent waters,” Liu Dejun, a spokesperson for China’s Coast Guard, said, using the island’s Chinese name.

The Teresa Magbanua’s absence from the contested waters is unlikely to impact the standoff there.

Alexander Lopez, a spokesperson for the Philippines’ National Maritime Council, told Reuters on Sunday that another vessel “will immediately take over,” citing an order from the chief of the Philippine Coast Guard.

“Definitely, we will keep our presence there,” Lopez added.